Tuesday, March 4, 2014

While scenes such as this have become more common since the cease fire was declared a little over two years ago, one must remind oneself that Alcovia is STILL a nation at war.

Peaceful as it may seem, the conflict that ravaged this once quiet Balkan nation still simmers under a last enmity that is maintained across no firmly entrenched lines of demarcation. Neither The Crown or the self-appointed Alcovian People's Army (APA) have made any declaration of a further peace and as time passes, each side of this conflict seems to get ever more committed to their respective mission.

While cleanup and reconstruction continue throughout the nation, pockets of armed forces both officially sanctioned and militia alike maintain positions, take possession of supplies and material. Shots still ring out in the night as armed gunmen patrol neighborhoods and patrols of soldiers weed out their rivals' insurgent forces. Add to this the continued and growing unrest among the ethnic Iqeni population in the East who are under ever increasing scrutiny coupled with bigotry and abuse by Alcovian nationals who, now unfettered from royal decree have little to keep them from acting on their agendas of sovereignty and racial purity.

This has signaled a call to arms for Iqenis who have no choice but to defend themselves. This in turn has drawn the attention of the government of Iqenistan, east across the Borka river and UN officials. Continued reports of crimes targeting ethnic Iqeni citizens in Alcovia continue to make their way across the Borka and into the hand of the UN who, to this date, have still been granted only the most basic access to Alcovian soil. One claim of mass graves found in the northeastern marshes was discounted as the bog mummified remains of earlier conflicts between Alcovia nd its Iqeni neighbors. While the report was accepted, based on photographic evidence, by UN inspectors, Iqenis still remain skeptical, fearing collusion or fraud.

A recent interview with Alcovia's Minsiter of Internal Affairs revealed that the king has grown concerned over recent events in the Ukraine. Russians interference in the sovereignty of that nation only serves to reinforce the king's fears that outside involvement in Alcovian affairs would be detrimental to the kingdom's continued independence. Russia had already voiced concerns over Alcovian instability in the first years of the civil war, even being complicit in backing an attempted breakaway by Alcovia's northern most region, Slavikova. While that break away was quelled and no direct Russian involvement was proven, Russian did maintain its position of maintaining stability in the region. Most recently, this concern for stability was expressed by an increase in credit for military exports to Alcovia from Russian arms industries.

For now, the world's eyes are off of Alcovia as the crisis in the Ukraine grows ever more intense. Hope holds that after two years of relative peace, the Wolf of the Balkans will, once more, slumber...﻿

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